Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) Section 88:51-61 contains a remarkable parable called the Parable of the Lord of the Fields.¹ This parable adds significant insights into the Order of Creation and the resurrection of celestial-worthy people on countless celestial (inhabited) earths.² The parable refers to these manifold earths as kingdoms because they are celestial earths³ that will become glorified worlds of the celestial kingdom after their resurrection.⁴

In the parable, Christ is likened to a man that sent twelve servants to work in his field.⁵ Christ initially visited or ministered to each of these twelve servants consecutively in one hour increments⁶ during a single twelve-hour day.⁷ The field represents the physical celestial earths that Christ (Jehovah) organized for humans to inhabit during their second mortal estate.⁸ The twelve servants represent the mortal inhabitants on each of these many earths.⁹ Christ consecutively ministers to all the celestial earths he created in their turn,¹⁰ which means that Christ (Jehovah) organized physical celestial earths consecutively, not concurrently.¹¹ Thus, "as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come." (Moses 1:38)

Doctrine and Covenants 88:58 states that Christ separately visits the servants or inhabitants on each of his celestial earths three (3) times, saying, "every man in his hour, and in his time, and in his season."¹² The three separate visits represent three different stages of Christ's ministry on every celestial earth he created.¹³ After Christ first visits all his celestial worlds consecutively in their hour, he visits them all a second time in reverse order, and then during a third season he visits these celestial worlds in reverse order again. This pattern follows the Order of Creation in D&C section 29:30, and this specific order is given in D&C section 88:59, which says: "Beginning at the first, and so on unto the last, and from the last unto the first, and from the first unto the last."¹⁴ This parable reinforces the doctrinal truth that the inhabitants on all celestial earths are subject to the same gospel of Jesus Christ and they follow the same plan of redemption.¹⁵ Furthermore, the redemption of people on one earth is interwoven with the pattern and timing of redemption of people on all other earths in this universe and in this generation of creations by God the Father.¹⁶

The starting point for the first hour of the parable coincides in time with the start of the war in heaven when Christ (Jehovah) physically organized his first celestial earth.¹⁷ Following that first physical creation, Jehovah became the premortal God¹⁸ to the mortal inhabitants appointed to that earth.¹⁹ These mortal inhabitants on that first earth are represented by the first servant who labored in the Lord's field during the first hour of the day. In that first hour, the inhabitants on Christ's first physical earth were able to behold the joy of his premortal countenance.²⁰ The first hour represents the temporal existence of that first earth from the time of its physical creation until it filled the measure of its creation²¹ and passed away with all its life forms.²²

After the first celestial earth passed away, Christ created another habitable celestial earth in the second symbolic hour of the parable.²³ He then became the premortal God to that second celestial earth. This pattern continued with countless other habitable earths consecutively, each in their designated hour.²⁴ Finally, in the last hour of the day in this generation,²⁵ Christ created this earth with Kolob as its inward spirit.²⁶ When this earth was created, Jehovah became the premortal God of the Old Testament to the ancient inhabitants of this earth.²⁷

Based on the foregoing, Jesus Christ created physical worlds consecutively, hour by hour, in ascending order of intelligence according to the Order of Creation.²⁸ In the twelfth and final hour of the one generational day, Christ created and then ministered as Jehovah on this last and most intelligent of all celestial earths in this generation.²⁹

After Jehovah's premortal ministry during the twelfth hour on this last earth of his physical creations, he was born on this earth as Jesus Christ.³⁰ His mortal birth on this earth ended his hourly visits and ministries as a premortal God.³¹ Since Jehovah's final premortal ministry occurred on this earth in the twelfth hour of the day,³² this earth also became the starting place to begin his second round of visits on all his celestial earths in reverse order.³³ Christ's mortal ministry, however, was not the start of this second series of visits because his mortal ministry on this earth has no parallel on any other world.³⁴ Also, on this earth Christ became the mortal Messiah where he condescended to the role of a servant³⁵ in the parable rather than the Lord.³⁶

The time of the Savior's second round of visits began immediately after the hour of his infinite atonement³⁷ and his crucifixion on this earth.³⁸ At that critical turning point in the history of the universe,³⁹ the time had come for Christ to visit the postmortal spirit world⁴⁰ located on this earth.⁴¹ There he exercised his keys to bring liberty to the disembodied and captive spirits in prison.⁴² After three days in the spirit world on this earth, Christ was resurrected and this began the resurrection of exaltation-worthy saints⁴³ whose graves opened in Jerusalem⁴⁴ and on the western hemisphere.⁴⁵ The translated people of Enoch's city and other translated people from the Old Testament were also resurrected with Christ⁴⁶ in this first stage of the resurrection called the morning of the first resurrection.⁴⁷

After exaltation-worthy saints from the Old Testament resurrected on this earth in their time, the postmortal ministries and visitations of Christ continued on his previous celestial earths in reverse order from the last to the first. At the time of his second visits, these other earths and their life forms had already passed away because Christ created celestial earths consecutively such that one earth passed away before another came as stated in Moses 1:38. Therefore, during his second round of visits, Christ visited the postmortal spirit world for each celestial earth and ministered to the spirits of the dead there just as he visited the spirits of the dead on this earth.⁴⁸ Christ's postmortal ministry on this earth is the pattern for his postmortal ministry on every other spirit world in its time. In addition to visiting the spirits of the dead, Christ initiated the morning of the first resurrection on all the celestial earths he created.⁴⁹ In the words of the parable, the people that resurrected on these other celestial earths "received the light of the countenance of their [resurrected] lord, every man in his time" and in reverse order.⁵⁰

Exaltation-worthy people on Christ's oldest and most ancient of earths must have waited millions of years for his resurrection to occur on this earth so they could then be resurrected in their order.⁵¹ Fortunately, these exaltation-worthy saints (and perhaps even celestial-worthy saints) on Christ's other celestial earths were probably translated and taken to heaven in the same way the people and city of Enoch were translated on this earth.⁵² Translations (rather than death) on these ancient earths allowed exaltation-worthy people to avoid the long separation of their spirits from their bodies.⁵³ Nevertheless, the translated people on these many earths had to wait to be resurrected until they were visited by the resurrected Lord in their time during his second round of visits.

During the time of Christ's second round of consecutive visits, all exaltation-worthy saints on all celestial earths of this generation resurrect in the morning of the first resurrection. The morning of the first resurrection began on this earth with Christ and saints of the Old Testament in the meridian of time, but this stage of resurrection has been deferred on this earth since that time.⁵⁴ Perhaps the morning of the first resurrection has not been continuous on this earth precisely because it began here, but then proceeded in reverse order from this highest earth to lowest earth according to the pattern of the parable. By the time of Christ's Second Coming on this earth, however, the morning of the first resurrection will be complete on all prior earths⁵⁵ by and through the power of Christ's atonement performed on this earth.⁵⁶ Then, just before Christ's Second Coming, the morning of the first resurrection will resume on this earth. In this continuing stage of the resurrection, all exaltation-worthy saints will rise from their graves that have lived on this earth since the time of Christ's resurrection in the meridian of time until the Second Coming.⁵⁷ The morning of the first resurrection won't be complete until all exaltation-worthy people of this earth have been resurrected by the end of the millennium‒including those that live during the millennium.⁵⁸

Christ's third round of visits on all celestial earths will begin from lowest to highest (or first to last) after Christ's Second Coming on this earth when Christ is glorified and begins his earthly reign. The season of these third visits‒from the first to the last‒correspond in time with the millennial season on this earth.⁵⁹ During this season of Christ's third visits, the resurrection shifts from the morning of the first resurrection to the afternoon of the first resurrection. This means Christ will resurrect the remnant of all celestial-worthy people who qualify for the celestial kingdom, but are not worthy of exaltation.⁶⁰ This season of celestial resurrection on all earths from the first to the last during the millennial season on this earth will fulfill the prophecy in D&C section 88:60, which states "that his lord might be glorified in him, and he in his lord, that they all might be glorified."⁶¹ The millennium on this earth is truly the season when Christ shall be glorified throughout the universe and his glory shall be added upon by the glory of his resurrected celestial saints.

The order of resurrection during the season of Christ's third visits is reversed from the time of his second visits⁶² based on the pattern given in the parable and based on the Order of Creation generally.⁶³ This means that during the season of third visits Christ will resurrect all unexalted, but celestial-worthy, people on all earths in ascending order from first world of the physical creation to last world of the physical creation (this earth).⁶⁴ Celestial-worthy people include unexalted angels in the two lowest degrees of glory in the celestial kingdom⁶⁵ who do not qualify for exaltation.⁶⁶ Consistent with the Order of Resurrection and the prescribed precedence in the Parable of the Lord of the Fields, the last person resurrected to celestial glory will occur on this earth and that resurrection will occur at the end of the millennial season on this earth.⁶⁷

The season of resurrection for celestial-worthy saints during the third round of Christ's visits is properly called the afternoon of the first resurrection. However, most people in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints use this phrase to describe the terrestrial resurrection because they fail to account for the resurrection of unexalted, but celestial worthy people after the morning of the first resurrection is complete.⁶⁸ In any event, when the afternoon of the first resurrection ends with the last celestial-worthy person on this earth at the end of the millennium, the evening of the first resurrection will then begin for terrestrial people.⁶⁹ The evening is a better word to describe this terrestrial stage of resurrection because the morning is for exaltation-worthy people, the afternoon is for celestial-worthy people, and the evening is for terrestrial-worthy people. All three stages are part of the first resurrection of the just.⁷⁰

The Parable of the Lord of the Fields does not describe the terrestrial resurrection or any later stages of resurrection.⁷¹ The parable only describes the celestial earths that Christ created,⁷² and the resurrection of people on those earths to glory within the celestial kingdom.⁷³